Laura Teegarden
Daily Egyptian
An arrest was made Friday in connection with the attack of a 21-year-old female student that occurred on Wednesday.
Police arrested Wallace R. Payton, 33, of Carbondale late Friday
afternoon on a warrant for vehicular hijacking and aggravated armed
robbery.
The victim's name was not released.
She told police she left Morris Library at approximately 11:30 p.m. to
walk to her car, which was parked in Lot 6 just north of the library,
according to Todd Sigler, director of the Department of Public Safety.
As the student sat down and began to close her door, a man stopped her.
He grabbed her by the neck and pushed her into the passenger seat. The
attacker grabbed her keys and threw her into the backseat of the car,
Sigler said.
At some point, the attacker realized the student had a second set of
keys and jumped on top of her to wrestle them away. She escaped through
the back door after biting his finger.
The suspect took off with her car, and the victim ran to the library to call for help.
She was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and released.
The car was recovered Thursday afternoon on the northeast side of Carbondale, Sigler said.
Sigler said this type of attack is exactly what the Department of Public Safety spends a lot of time talking to students about.
"It's very important that you be aware of your surroundings," he said.
He said a lot of people tend to be looking down, talking on cell phones or listening to music on headphones.
"In this case, the victim actually did a very good job of being aware," Sigler said.
Susan Tulis, associate dean of library affairs, said many students
don't take advantage of calling for someone to escort them to their
cars because they feel like they are being overcautious.
"We encourage people to call if they are concerned about walking to their cars," Tulis said.
Reporter Laura Teegarden can be reached at
laura_teegarden@dailyeyptian.com
